Kansas to get $27.6M from firm investigated over drug costs

By JOHN HANNA
Associated Press

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt says the state will receive nearly $27.6 million from a legal settlement with the company that manages prescription costs for its Medicaid program. Schmidt said the settlement with St. Louis-based Centene Corp. came after an investigation of nearly two years into whether the firm had overcharged Medicaid for prescriptions. States across the U.S. have been investigating companies known as pharmacy benefit managers, and Mississippi and Ohio in June settled lawsuits against Centene for a total of nearly $144 million. Kansas settled with Centene before filing a lawsuit. The company denied wrongdoing and called the settlement a “no-fault agreement.”